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posted by martyb on Sunday August 20 2017, @08:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the up-in-the-air-about-this dept.

Blimps and drones: a combination made in logistics heaven?

Amazon isn't the only retailer that's looking into drone delivery. Walmart appears to be working on a similar concept but its solution might be a bit different compared to Amazon's. Walmart has filed for a US patent for a floating blimp warehouse which will make delivers via drones. The idea is to have a floating warehouse up in the sky from where Walmart can instantly ship products to customers using drones.

According to the patent filing, the blimp-style floating warehouse would fly at heights between 500 and 1,000 feet. It will have multiple launch bays for sending drone deliveries. The blimp itself will either fly autonomously or be remotely controlled by a human pilot. This solution could help Walmart lower the cost of fulfilling online orders, cutting down on "last mile" costs to a customer's house which is normally handled by a logistics company.


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  • (Score: 2) by Murdoc on Monday August 21 2017, @02:13AM (2 children)

    by Murdoc (2518) on Monday August 21 2017, @02:13AM (#556838) Homepage

    A sure sign that you've crossed over into an alternate universe is the prevalence of blimps. Just look at sci-fi, it happened on Dr. Who, Fringe, among others.
    Who knew that the break-off point between the universes would be Walmart?!? Can I go back to the universe that doesn't have it?

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 21 2017, @03:23AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday August 21 2017, @03:23AM (#556860) Journal

    Not without going to war with the Walton family.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 21 2017, @06:00PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Monday August 21 2017, @06:00PM (#557141)

    > Who knew that the break-off point between the universes would be Walmart?!?

    Anyone who entered the parking lot, let alone the front door.